WHO Bulletin: Antimicrobial resistance and the COVID-19 pandemic

6 May, 2022

Citation, extracts and a comment from me below.

CITATION: Bull World Health Organ. 2022 May 1; 100(5): 295–295A.

Published online 2022 May 1. doi: 10.2471/BLT.21.287752

PMCID: PMC9047431

Antimicrobial resistance and the COVID-19 pandemic

Samira Choudhury, Antonieta Medina-Lara, and Richard Smith

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9047431/#

Before the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, the World Health Organization (WHO) recognized antimicrobial resistance as one of the top 10 most urgent global health threats. Often referred to as the silent pandemic, antimicrobial resistance claims the lives of over 700 000 people annually. A study suggests that if no actions are taken, antimicrobial resistance will cause 10 million deaths per year by 2050 and an economic impact of over 100 trillion United States dollars...

First, COVID-19 has had a significant influence on our social interactions. People are now far more conscious of preventive health-care measures such as regular handwashing, wearing face masks and observing physical distancing. These behaviour changes will help prevent transmission of infectious diseases, including those affected by antimicrobial resistance; however, a risk of recidivism exists once the pandemic subsides.

Second, COVID-19 has increased awareness of the importance of surveillance and laboratory capacity...

Third, the COVID-19 pandemic has illustrated the importance of improving infection prevention and hygiene...

Fourth, COVID-19 has facilitated wider awareness and reinforced the role of a global One Health approach...

[Fifth], vaccines that effectively protect against SARS-CoV-2 will help reduce the global prevalence of COVID-19 and reduce the inappropriate use of antibiotics, thereby potentially lowering the burden of antimicrobial resistance...

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COMMENT (NPW): I propose to add: "Sixth, COVID-19 has highlighted the fundamental importance of improving the availability and use of reliable healthcare information and protecting people from misinformation. Failure to access, interpret and apply reliable information on antibiotics is a major cause of antimicrobial resistance. It is an indictment of the current global health system that ‘Globally, most prescribers receive most of their prescribing information from the pharmaceutical industry and in many countries this is the only information they receive.’ World Medicines Report, WHO 2011. The HIFA project on Information for Prescribers and Users of Medicines is working for a world where: "Every prescriber and user worldwide will have access to independent, reliable, understandable information on the full range of commonly prescribed medicines ­- and will know where to find it."

https://www.hifa.org/projects/prescribers-and-users-medicines

Best wishes, Neil

Joint Coordinator HIFA Project on Information for Prescribers and Users of Medicines http://www.hifa.org/projects/prescribers-and-users-medicines

Neil Pakenham-Walsh, Global Coordinator HIFA, www.hifa.org neil@hifa.org

Working in official relations with WHO